Thursday, February 10, 2011
THE BEST TIME TO PLANT A TREE
According to a Chinese Proverb, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best is now.” How often have you found yourself wishing you had started something much earlier than you did; that you had given yourself more time to do a better job or to get a better result? “With an earlier start and more time”, you reflect with regret, “I would have had so many more options and wouldn’t be scrambling so much as my deadline approaches.” And yet, this is not the first time you’ve found yourself in a last-minute rush to get something done…you’ve been here before. Haven’t you?
So, wouldn’t this be a good time to ask, “When is the best time to establish year-end goals and begin to meet them?” In the last quarter, or the first? When there is only a month or two left, or eleven?
Many of the business owners we have talked with in the last few weeks are still heavily involved in year-end planning—for last year. They haven’t even begun to think about what this year is going to look like, or what they would like it to be! They spent the last quarter of last year trying desperately to meet goals, and the first month of this year assessing and adjusting as though the year hadn’t ended yet.
If you haven’t done it already, this is the perfect time to design your 2011…yes, I said “design”. Begin by creating a Strategic Objective for 2011: What will you do to ramp up or improve your lead generation and lead conversion strategies this year? What will be your volume of sales and gross revenues this year? What will be the net profits? Do you have new products or services to introduce? How will you fine tune your client fulfillment systems to ensure your clients/customers are not only satisfied, but absolutely elated? Will you be hiring more employees, and for what positions? What will you be creating to further reinforce your competitive advantage, or to gain one in the first place? How would you like to describe your business as it will be on January 1, 2012?
Then break the financial goals down by quarter, by month, and even by week. Be realistic, but make it a bit of a stretch. Identify what your sales volume has to be to achieve the revenue goals, and specifically what lead generation and lead conversion volumes will be required. Do you have the capacity for generating that activity now, or do you need to create more channels of activity? Remember, new processes and new channels of activity take time to bear fruit, so give yourself a reality check as you make your projections.
Based on your history of expenses, and anticipated reductions or increases in expenses brought about by changes you will be making in 2011, create a month by month Budget through the end of the year. Stay somewhat conservative on the revenue side, and more generous on the expense side. If your design does not show you are making a profit, don’t simply inflate revenue or reduce expenses beyond what is reasonable. You may need to examine your pricing or your overall business model to see if it makes sense and, if not, to make adjustments in the design of that model.
Then create a Controlling Calendar for 2011, on which you will calendar the key events and benchmarks that lead to the ultimate goals for the year. Given your breakdown of financial activity, identify when you will need to:
- add new staff,
- introduce a new product or service,
- engage in new lead generation activities,
- engage in further sales initiatives,
- inaugurate new client care programs,
Identify what benchmarks for leads, sales, and client care activities you need to achieve for each period (day, week, or month) in order to reach your designed destination?
Your new Budget, which includes your revenue and expense projections, along with your Controlling Calendar, which describes key activities and benchmarks, constitute a Roadmap. Check your progress against it at least weekly, if not more often. As you test it against your business’ “real world”, tweak it as necessary. It is not a static Roadmap, but a dynamic one that might move with the changes and opportunities your business experiences throughout the year.
It has been said “we make real that to which we pay attention.” Your persistent focus on your Roadmap and the activities and benchmarks it describes will be instrumental in bringing about the actual results.
Posted by emyth benchmark at 12:06 PM in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: business coach, business coaching, business planning, e-myth, e-myth coaching, strategic business plan
Monday, January 03, 2011
REAL TIME
We are born. We die. In between is Time. And even though Time is what it is, we try to get our arms around it by measuring it…in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years. But more importantly, we get to decide how to use it…every single one of us. The Time that has gone by we will never see again (at least not in this lifetime). We don’t know how much Time we have left. We can no longer choose how to use the Time of yesterday…we already did that. We don’t know if we’ll have a choice about the Time of tomorrow…hopefully each of us will.
The only Time we really know we have and can choose to use in a way that brings us joy and satisfaction is the Time happening NOW. As a matter of fact, when you really think about it, the only Time that really matters is Real Time—the Time happening NOW.
And yet, the great majority of us continue to use our Time in ways that aren’t getting us any closer to our dreams, that aren’t bringing us either joy or satisfaction, that aren’t giving our businesses or families what they need, and so on. We say to ourselves things like: “This is what I have to do right now…I don’t have any choice…If I don’t do this, it won’t get done…Circumstances prevent me from doing things differently.” Our days and months and years are filled with activities that prevent us from achieving our true potential in business, personally, socially, spiritually and so on. After all, there is only so much Time…right?
And all the while we complain of having no Time, of only having Time to do what we’re currently doing, of having no Time to do something else, even though the “something else” is exactly what we should be doing to realize our dreams and achieve our full potential. We completely ignore the fact that we choose to use our Time doing things that aren’t getting us what we say we want, and claim we have No Time to do the things that will get us exactly what we say we want. (I think I’ve discovered a new definition of insanity.) Even more importantly, we ignore the fact that it is our choice.
Granted, for some of us, changing how we use our Time will involve unraveling a whole series of choices that have put us in rather untenable and burdensome situations that completely depend on us using our Time a certain way. The business owner who has created Time Bandits that require him or her to do most everything has a lot of unraveling to do. Their use of Time has been carefully (even though unconsciously) designed to drain the life out of them. But it is still a choice.
As I write this, 2010 is on its death bed and 2011 is in the delivery room. There are millions of people reflecting on what they did not get done in 2010 and looking forward to 2011 with hope and great intention. Some are even writing their proverbial New Year’s Resolutions: A statement of fervent intent to do something I should have done before but never did even though it would fulfill one of my fondest dreams and now I’m really going to do it so help me God. Did you ever wonder how important something is to you if you have to put it on a list of things you’re going to do, instead of just doing it?
This may be hard for some of you incurable workaholics to swallow, but Time is the only thing between birth and death—your birth and death, or the birth and death of a calendar year. It’s not that you have No Time—Time is really all you have. You simply get to decide how to use it. And you can use it by coming up with things you intend to do when you have Time, or you can use it by immediately spending your Time doing those things that will bring you closer and closer to the way you’ve always dreamt you should be spending your Time.
If you view yourself as physically fit, exercise today. If you want to stay in closer touch with your family, do it today…even if it has to be on the phone or by email. If you want your business to be less frustrating, select a key frustration today and spend time drilling into the reasons why it happens and discover what you can do to reverse it forever. And above all, get some help. Habits are often hard to change, and the way you think about things even harder. Allowing yourself to be held accountable to an objective third party for changing how you spend your Time has proven over and over again to be the most effective way to achieve it—by a multiple of not less than 20 times the success rate you have when simply leaving it up to your own “discipline”.
If you make every NOW count, your 2011 experience will take care of itself. May the New Year bring each and every one of you the Joy, Peace, and Prosperity of your fondest dreams, and may Time be among your best friends.
Posted by emyth benchmark at 9:14 AM in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: business coach, business coaching, e-myth, e-myth coach, e-myth coaching, time, time management
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
DECEMBER: NATIONAL PROCRASTINATION MONTH
The month of December is known for many things, most notably the Holidays, the official beginning of winter, and as a time for many celebrations and social gatherings. If you’re a business owner (and even if you’re not), you could probably categorize most of your December activities in the following two ways: (1) completing tasks and goals by year-end that have piled up from earlier months due to procrastination, and (2) creating that ever-increasing list of intentions to do or start things that can wait until after the first of the year but you always have and certainly do intend to do them and know you should do them but simply haven’t gotten around to them in spite of the fact that your life would be a whole lot easier, healthier, more efficient, more successful had you simply done it but procrastinated instead. (I’ll punctuate that sentence later, when I have more time.)
Even worse, those intentions often end up with a death sentence by ending up on your New Year’s Resolution list. (How’d your last one work out?) It’s a list full of projects, programs, things to do, places to go, and progress to make which apparently can only be done “when the time is right”. What does that even mean!?! When I hear people say it, I’ve asked what that means to them, and have never gotten a clear answer—I don’t think anyone really knows. Do you? Apparently it’s just a feeling. If so, how would you distinguish it from gastritis or cramps?
All kidding aside, someone once said, “Anything really worth doing is worth doing NOW.” The opposite applies as well—anything NOT worth doing isn’t worth doing at all, and it certainly isn’t worth putting on a list of things your going to do. So, the first question is: “Is the thing you are considering worth doing?” Then ask yourself: How important is it to me? To my business? To my health and well-being? To my family? To my life?
Let’s take a simple and all too common example: diet and exercise. Like many people, my eating habits are not the best, I get very little sustained exercise even though I’m pretty active, and I could certainly stand to lose 30 lbs for the sake of my blood pressure, glucose levels and overall feeling of health and well-being. I’ve educated myself enough on the pros and cons of my physical condition that I know beyond any doubt that making those things happen would most definitely be worth it! So, right after the first of the year I’m going to get started! What do you think? As I read what I just wrote, I’m not even buying it myself.
So what if it’s December, only a month to go in the year…the new year just around the corner. Do something different, even counter-intuitive, for once. If there is something you intend to do that’s worth doing, get started today—NOW!
When it comes to your business, if there is strategic development work that needs to be done in order to begin to see different results in 2011, get started NOW. Don’t wait for 2011 before you even begin the process, let alone begin to really think about it. If you do, you’ll still be just thinking about it when half of next year is over, and it will become a new member of the first category of the December procrastination list—stuff that piled up from earlier in the year that never really got started.
And once you’ve gotten started, give yourself a major edge—allow yourself to be held accountable for continuing and completing what you’ve started. Whatever it is—personal fitness, getting organized, business development—get a coach! Studies have shown that people have a 20 times greater chance of achieving their stated objectives when engaged with a coach than left to their own devises and self-discipline. It’s the difference between a 4% chance and an 80% chance.
Wouldn’t you rather experience December as your own National Celebrate Success Month?
Posted by emyth benchmark at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: business coach, business coaching, coach, e-myth, e-myth business coach, e-myth business coaching
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
SUCCESS BEGINS WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW
The secret to success in anything—business, sports, raising a family, pursuing a hobby, or whatever—begins and ends with attitude. To say it another way, your point of view will determine how you see things, how you think about things, how you react to things, and how you act upon them. The success of businesses that have had the extraordinary advantage of an E-Myth Business Coach, and indeed the success of the E-Myth Mastery Program itself, can be attributed to a point of view. We call it simply the “E-Myth Point of View”, or in shorthand, the EMPOV.
There are five core principles that make up the EMPOV. The first is the Principle of Life, which begins with the simple premise that your life is really your only business. The purpose of starting and owning a business is to give you more life, however you may define that. It could mean more money, more freedom, more enjoyment, more time to spend with your family or friends, more satisfaction from doing what you love, more control over your destiny, and so on. Most business owners, however, find themselves experiencing just the opposite. Instead of having a business that gives them more life, they have a business that is literally consuming their life! They’re not really running their business…their business is running them. Is your business giving you more life?
The second principle is called the Law of Objectivization—big word, simple meaning. In your business you might be many things; you know, the “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.” However, as the owner of the business, while wearing that hat, your job is not to produce and sell what your business produces and sells. As the owner of the business, your job is the create a business that produces and sells your product perfectly, predictably, consistently, on time, as promised, even if you’re not doing it…especially if you’re not doing it. In order to do that, you have to be able to see it as a seamless picture of perfectly orchestrated activity. And, in order to do that, you have to get out of it, get away from it, and look at it from the outside looking in and 5000 feet above it. When is the last time you really saw your business as your customers might?
The third principle is the classic E-Myth phrase, “Working On It, Not In It”. A slightly more pragmatic reading of that phrase for the very small business adds a qualifying word, so it reads “Working On it, not just In it.” We have found in our business coaching center that the overwhelming majority of business owners we encounter as prospective clients spend between 99 and 100% of their time working IN their business and virtually no time working ON it. Working ON the business is the strategic activity of creating a business that works, with or without you, and is a sustainable manifestation of your vision. Working IN the business is simply doing what needs to be done—the tactical work. It simply cannot become what you envision it to be unless you go beyond that and begin designing and creating a business, instead of a job! When is the last time you spent time working ON your business?
The fourth principle flows quite naturally from the first three. In order to realize your vision by working ON it, you need an effective set of tools that ensure consistency, predictability, scalability, and leverage—they’re called “systems.” So the fourth principle is called “Systemization.” They come in many forms and the very best are simple, easy to master, and dynamic rather than static. It may be the script used for answering the phone or frequently asked questions, the list of benchmarks to consider in the sales process, checklists for opening or closing the office, the color scheme and décor used in your business location, the dress code you have your employees follow, and so on…all systems. All are intended to deliver a clear and consistent message: this is who we are, this is what we do, this is how we do it here, this is why we do it better than anyone else, this is why you can depend on us, this is why you should join our game and become our customer. Without systems, you have no way of growing your business in a way that will replicate what works over and over again. Without systems, you’re leaving the results you’re trying to achieve to chance. Do you have clear and documented systems for each and every critical function in your business or does that information simply live in the heads of you and your people?
Last but not least, the fifth principle is the Business Development Cycle. It consists of three important functions: Innovation, Quantification, and Orchestration. As stated earlier, systems are dynamic rather than static. They are subject to the possibility of review and revision, i.e. innovation, as more information illuminates newer and better ways of working that produce even more effective and consistent results. In addition, critical systems in the areas of marketing and sales, finance, management, and operations should be quantified for impact and effectiveness all the while they’re in use, and especially as they are being tested and compared against alternative ways of achieving the same desired results. Everything counts, so count everything. As each system is created and quantified for impact, it is important to properly roll it out or orchestrate it in a way that adequately trains employees in the use of it, provides all of the resources necessary to implement it, provides mechanisms for feedback on deficiencies in the system, and ensures its consistent use by all employees. The Business Development Cycle engaged in correctly will help ensure long term adaptability and sustainability in the business. Do you have actual systems for innovation, quantification, and orchestration that are consistently follow in your business?
If you have a business with no clear, written and well understood vision, a business that feels like it’s sucking the life out of you, a business in which critical knowledge lives in the minds of people who could be gone tomorrow, a business that simply wouldn’t run well without you for any significant period of time, a business that feels stagnant from lack of creative and productive change, then maybe you need to change your point of view. As Albert Einstein famously said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Posted by emyth benchmark at 9:39 AM in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: business coach, e-myth, e-myth business coach, e-myth business coaching, e-myth coaching, e-myth point of view, e-myth revisited, working on it
Friday, October 01, 2010
KEEP TWO SETS OF BOOKS!
Most of us know and understand that every business needs to create and use a proper-and meaningful-Chart of Accounts that describes each relevant category of transaction that impacts either the Balance Sheet or the Income Statement, also known as the Profit & Loss Statement, of the business. Then, the business needs to keep accurate and up-to-date Income Statements and Balance Sheets, and on an accrual basis in the vast majority of businesses. Accrual Basis accounting enables you to see how your business is doing not only in terms of actual receipts and disbursements, but also as to receivables earned but not yet collected, and obligations incurred but not yet paid.
A proper Income Statement shows those disbursements that are generally deductible expenses for income tax purposes, but does not show certain types of disbursements, such as principal payments on loans, or the cost of acquiring a major piece of equipment. The Balance Sheet gives you a snapshot of the business' worth, based on what are called "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles", but there is a lot that a Balance Sheet does not tell you about the true condition of your business. In short, Balance Sheets and Income Statements are exactly what your accountant wants and needs to see in order to properly prepare the business' tax returns, but they don't tell you all of the story you need to know in order to run the business on a day-to-day basis.
The other "set of books" is a Cash Flow Plan. We use the term "Plan" to distinguish it from a Cash Flow Statement, which is a history of cash flow from prior periods. Conversely, the Cash Flow Plan is a projection of future cash flow activity. In its simplest (and most useful) form, it is a listing of all sources and amounts of cash that you currently have on hand, amounts that you can reasonably anticipate receiving on a given day, week, month, or in some other short term period, and a listing of all payables of whatever kind that will need to be paid during that same period.
The anticipated cash receipts may be from any source whatsoever, including borrowed funds, sale of equipment, and items that may not be just ordinary income. Likewise, the anticipated payables, or disbursements, can be due to any source, including principal and interest payments on a loan, or the purchase of computers equipment that may not be ordinarily not deductible from income taxes all in one year. To put it simply a Cash Flow Plan will answer questions that are vital to the financial health of your business; how much cash do you have, how much can you reasonably expect to come in within a given period, how much will you be required to pay out in that same period, and how much will you have left (or will you be short)?
It is a plan that gives you a clear picture of whether you will have enough cash to fuel your business needs on a real time basis. It is a plan that should be reviewed and updated daily-sometimes even more often, depending on the kind of business you're in. It will shine a light on areas of strengths and deficiencies on both the revenue and the expense side of your business. It will help you anticipate and plan for specific needs and requirements of the business.
Knowledge is power, even if it sometimes involves bad news. You can't respond to something you don't even see coming. More businesses fail for lack of cash than lack of profits.
Bottom line: If you don't have one, create a Cash Flow Plan today. No business can realistically operate without two sets of books!
Posted by emyth benchmark at 5:03 PM in Money | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: accounting, accounting books, business, business coaching, cash flow, cash plan, e-myth
Thursday, September 02, 2010
THE KEEPER OF THE FLAME
“When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’” – Lao-tsu
There are volumes written on leadership, and quotes that end to end would circle the earth several times. In spite of the volume, there are only a very few basic themes that keep repeating themselves. Those themes involve clarity of vision and purpose, an ability to move others to action, and an ability to draw out the greatness that already exists in others.
I once asked a retired CEO of a regional bank how he would describe his function in his former position. He simply said, “I was the Keeper of the Flame”. That was both an exciting and intriguing response, so I pressed on with more questions. He described his view of leadership in that position as creating real clarity around the overall results the organization wanted to achieve…the end-game, if you will…the final picture. To complete the picture, it then had to be imbued with a clear sense of shared purpose and value, so that it became like lighting a torch…a Flame. It has an aura of something bigger that any one person in the organization, even the leader. He then had the job of continually reminding everyone in the organization of the Flame and it’s meaning, and using the Flame to shine a light on all the activity in the organization, to the end that the final picture would be achieved.
That truly is the first attribute of any leader, because without knowing where you’re going, as the saying goes, any road will get you there. The second attribute, the ability to move others to action, is equally as critical. Without activity which leads to the final picture described in the vision, the vision will be no more than a dream—the Flame will only represent hot air! But this is not just activity for the sake of activity. It is a clear roadmap of objectives, strategies, action plans, timetables, and allocation of resources that inevitably leads to the fulfillment of the vision. The Flame will make it clear which strategies and actions are “non-productive”, because they don’t bring the organization closer to the final picture, and those that are “productive”, because they do. Activity without the light of the Flame is a decision to leave results to chance—to invite bad results as a norm, and good results as an accident.
Finally, there is the ability to draw out the greatness that exists in others. In our business coaching company, we have a saying that hangs prominently in the coaching department. It says, “Our clients are greater than they know themselves to be.” It is a part of what Michael Gerber, the best selling author of the E-Myth series of books, calls the “game worth playing”.
For some, it is about getting past a fear of not being able to do something. For others, it is about seeing the relationship between a desirable end result and the sometimes monotonous activities required to get there. And for yet others, it may be about getting past old paradigms and ways of thinking that keep us doing the same things over and over and praying that somehow a different result will happen. In any case, however, the challenge of the leader is to create an environment that is not only safe for all of these transformations to happen, that not only encourages and promotes those transformations, but makes the transformations desirable. And all of the time, the environment is embraced in the warmth of the Flame, so that everyone understands why they’re here, what they’re doing, and why their own occasional discomfort in the face of challenging their own non-productive activity is completely worth it.
How brightly is the Flame burning in your business? Or, has it even been lit?
Posted by emyth benchmark at 9:32 AM in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: business coaching, E-Myth, leader, leadership, Michael Gerber, vision
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Plug Into Your Customers
"To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity."- Douglas Adams
Your customer is your businesses' lifeline to success, and through meeting the needs of your customers, you will be meeting the needs of your business. Discover and learn everything you can about what fulfills your customers: their desires, needs, expectations and goals. Learning and discovering all you can about fulfilling the needs of your customers is accomplished through sincere, well thought out questions; then listening with an open, caring and non-judgmental point of view.
Questions can be asked without the questioner learning anything - the key is in asking the right questions, then listening with sincerity! If conversations with your customers become rote methods of steering your customers to a predetermined destination, you have lost the most powerful relationship tool available to you. A well crafted question is an elegant entrée into a high impact conversation...IF
- you really care about the answer
- you show sincere and genuine interest
- you're willing to let go of what you think the answer should be
- you're open to exploring conversations outside your customers comfort zone
- you don't think you already know the answer
- you listen to learn and remember what you learn.
The questions and conversations you employ should always be about your customers - always about your customers first. Your products, your services, your interests, your accomplishments will not mean anything to your customers until they feel you care about them first. When your customers feel that you know and understand them, they will connect with you and be open to hearing what you have to offer.
As you work with your customers and listen for what is meaningful to them, you will understand how to design your client fulfillment systems-and your business' relationship with your customers-to meet their needs.
Ask, listen and learn...
- what your customers appreciate about your business, and your products/services.
- what motivates them to be your customer.
- what they need and expect..
- what they want to experience.
- what they don't want to experience.
Use what you learn about your customer's desires and expectations to innovate your client fulfillment systems to better meet their needs. Remember what you learn and leverage your customer's words to connect them back to their needs, desires, and goals as often as possible, letting them know that you know them. This method of affirming your customer is not a trick or a cute sales tool; this is a serious commitment to caring about and honoring your customer's needs. KNOW them and provide them the care and service that meets their needs, and they will be your customers for life.
Be sincere, ask, learn, discover, remember - put what you learn it into action!
Posted by emyth benchmark at 2:46 PM in Client Fulfillment | Permalink | Comments (0)
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Lead Conversion: Stop Selling and Start Solving
Several years ago, after going through month after frustrating month of unsuccessful sales conversations, a great friend and mentor gave me some advice that completely changed my world. He said, "Why don't you stop selling and start solving problems?" For me, that caused the lights to go on in several parts of my stubborn brain, including the part that regulates anxiety. What a relief! I don't have to try to sell anything at all...I just have to help people satisfy their needs and solve their problems!
That one thought immediately turned the selling conversation on its head. It's not about the features and benefits of your products and services and how yours is better than theirs or how yours is so much more affordable and on and on and on. It's about your prospect, what's working for them and what's not, what's missing in their world that they feel they need, what's driving them crazy and would they like it to change, and what is the gap between where they are now and where they'd like to be. Whether your dealing with someone who wants to remodel part of their home, would like to have a newer phone with more apps, would like their teeth to look better, would like to run their business better, or want to have a certain style of jeans, it's the same focus, if not the same conversation.
You don't learn what those things are by incessantly moving your mouth. You only discover those things by asking thoughtful, genuinely sincere and open-ended questions, then shutting your mouth and carefully and quietly listening to what they have to say. And guess what? They'll tell you...on one condition: they trust you, or at least, have a good feeling about you. And that happens, almost without fail, when you are genuinely sincere (there's that phrase again) and when you show a true and genuine interest in your prospective customer or client.
A good rule of thumb is that no less than 80% of your conversations with a prospect should consist of asking questions and carefully listening to uncover the true need the prospect has. Occasionally, throughout the conversation, it is a good practice to repeat back to the prospect what you have heard and ask if your understanding is accurate or if it needs more clarification. This helps you become clear, reinforces the issue with the prospect, and makes the prospect feel heard and understood. That will be critical when you begin discussing solutions. It means your diagnosis will be more accurate, and if your prospect believes your diagnosis, they are much more likely to buy your prescription.
In many cases, the prospect isn't even clear themselves on what they need, and they are as much in the process of discovery during the conversation as you are! In many cases the conversation results in clarity they didn't have before, and that is indeed a gift you are giving to them. Remember, the only reason they're even having a conversation with you in the first place is they have made a decision at some level of consciousness there is a problem they need to solve or a need to fulfill, even if they're not entirely clear about what it is themselves.
It's your primary job to discover it, uncover it, shine a light on it, and make sure you and your prospect are both clear about it. Then, and only then, can you take the next steps of offering the solution and determining if your prospect is ready to buy. That part of the conversation will be a topic for another article.
So, in the meantime, ask...listen...ask...listen...ask...listen, and listen some more. Oh, and the friend and mentor who gave me the advice several years ago? It was Michael Gerber, best selling author of the E-Myth books...and he still asks me the same question now and then, "Are you selling, or solving?"
Posted by emyth benchmark at 12:07 PM in Lead Conversion | Permalink | Comments (1)
Technorati Tags: lead conversion, Michael Gerber, sales, sales pressure, selling
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
The Three Rights of Lead Generation
Lead generation is the continuous activity of sending the right messages to the right markets, through the right delivery channels to gain attention, elicit a response and earn you a qualified lead. Count them - that's three rights. Posted by emyth benchmark at 4:11 PM in Lead Generation | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: attracting customers, increasing leads, lead generation, leads, marketing
Monday, May 03, 2010
Business Brand Checkup
“The greatest brand compliment you can receive is to meet someone for the first time and have them tell you that you "feel" just like your website or collateral materials. That means you are being consistent - you are speaking in the same voice, regardless of the medium.”
- Drew McLellan, McLellan Marketing Group
Due to the changing economic climate, many companies have experienced either no growth, or worse, a decline in revenues from previous years. There is nothing quite like a loss in revenues to prompt a company to take a hard look at their branding. Branding is the process of creating an identity in the marketplace, one that is a reflection of your company, not just what you want your company to be. Once your brand is identified and you build the marketing messages and sensory package that supports your brand - you need to ensure your company can live up to it. The experience you provide your customers must equal or surpass the expectations your brand creates.
Rebranding to position your business to new markets or to reposition your business in the same market can be a risky strategy. A dramatic rebranding may result in some loss of current customers. For example, if you currently attract upscale professionals approaching retirement and you change your brand to appeal to young value minded families, you may lose the appeal you have to your current customers.
Before you react to a decline in business by rebranding engage in a thorough checkup of your business in relationship to your current brand. It may make more sense to refresh your brand instead of engaging in a comprehensive rebranding. Take some time to focus on key questions about your current brand before you leap to the conclusion that you need to create a new brand.
· Is your business living up to the promise of your brand?
· Does your brand adequately and accurately differentiate you from your competition?
· Do you have less customers coming to you, or are your customers buying less?
· Is your brand still a solid representation of your products and services?
· Are your colors outdated? Are they attractive to the customers you want to attract?
· Does your business reflect your brand? (colors, graphics, furnishings)
· Are your brand images outdated? (logo, website, letterhead, marketing materials)
· Is your website relevant to your brand?
· Do your sales and marketing tools and materials align with your brand?
· Are your print materials in alignment with your brand?
· Does your brand reflect the current trends of your industry/
· Is your brand in alignment with the technology of your industry?
· Have the needs of your customers dramatically changed?
· Is your brand strategy a good fit for the customers you are trying to attract?
· Is your brand attracting the customers you desire?
While adapting to the changing marketplace and the needs of your customers is imperative, frequently changing your brand can be disastrous. If you decide a rebranding is needed, be thorough in your research and be aware of the investment that will be needed. If your brand changes substantially your logo, marketing materials, sales tools, website, letterhead, business cards and signage may all need to be changed. Whether you need to refresh your current brand or engage in a comprehensive rebranding, be proactive and design a branding strategy that creates the impressions you want your customers to have about your business, products and services. If you don’t - your competition will probably do it for you!
Posted by emyth benchmark at 4:44 PM in Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0)
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Stop Blaming – Start Changing
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them”.
-George Bernard Shaw
In our work with hundreds of small businesses we have consistently coached our clients to step forward and take the action that will result in their success. The action they take is within their control. There are and always will be circumstances beyond or outside of our control – so I’ll tell you what we tell our clients; move on to what you can control.
There are far too many management opportunities to impact the way your business operates to waste any time on blaming things outside of your control. Generally when something outside of your control significantly impacts your life or business it’s because you weren’t paying attention to what is inside of your control! If you or others around you are spending even the teeniest bit of energy on pointing to things outside of your control for impacting your business you need to stop blaming and start changing!
As a leader being clear on what you are able to control is a roadmap to your success!
Make a list of everything in your business you can control. I’ll help by providing you a short list – your accountability is to add to this list!
o Being a student of your product and services
o Your personal ability to lead and empower your team
o Knowledge of your customer
o Your Marketing Message - Distinguishing yourself from your competition
o Lead activity taking place in your business
o Creating extraordinary customer relationships
o Delivery of your product and services
o Understanding the numbers that drive your business
I challenge you to rate yourself on this short list – have you and your business mastered this short list? Identifying what you have the ability to control and becoming a master of them will provide you with a strong business foundation to embrace with confidence the circumstances outside of your control.
The best way to embrace what you can’t control is to understand it. Once you understand what you’re not able to control you can identify how profoundly it may impact your ability to successfully conduct your business.
Make a list of everything in your business environment that is outside of your control. I’ll help by providing you a short list – your accountability is to add to this list!
o The financial market
o My competition and their product
o My community economic environment (actively engage by volunteering in local groups!)
o Decisions made by my employees or clients in their personal life
o Vendor product pricing
o Gas and utility prices
o World events
If you actively engage in the above activity of making two lists – one for what you can control and one for what you can’t control, you will quickly notice there are many more things in your life that you can control than those you can’t! You could spend the rest of your life becoming a master of what you can control. In becoming a master of what you can control you are limiting the ability for circumstances outside of your control to negatively impact your business.
When a circumstance occurs outside of your control ask yourself;
· What can I learn from this circumstance that will strengthen my ability to succeed?
· What can I and my team impact given this circumstance has occurred?
· What do I not know that I need to know about this circumstance?
· How could this circumstance have been minimized through a best business practice?
· How will I go forward to design my business to embrace this circumstance?
What does it mean to stop blaming and start changing?
It means you are clear on what you can and can’t control and will shift your energy to focusing on what you can control and let others rant and rave until their productive energy has been expended. (Move past your competition who are blaming) It means you need to know your options for taking action and you will take action based on solid information and reasonable deduction resulting from having clarity of those things within your control and knowledge of how those things outside of your control can impact you.
Posted by emyth benchmark at 7:53 AM in Management | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: blame, change, control, management
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Focus: Activity, Activity, Activity
"The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination."
-- John Schaar
It's March, 2010-Month Three. What!? Already!? The year has barely begun! Two-twelfths of the year is gone! Seventeen percent of the time you had to achieve your business results for 2010 has vanished, and the critical question is: How are you coming on your business goals for 2010?
Do you even remember what your goals are for this year, or has that slipped by with the time? Can you find where you wrote them down? If so - congratulations! If not - get with it! That is, unless you'd like to end this year without achieving a fraction of what you'd hoped for. Your 2010 business goals should drive the activity generated by your business. Once identified, they should be your guiding light for decision making and set the tempo for what takes place in your business throughout the year.
If you're not in touch with your business' progress towards the 2010 goals, carve out the time to make sure the following goal achieving best practices are in place. Your annual business goals should:
- be in writing
- become an activity plan
- be quantifiable
- be tracked on a consistent basis
- be shared with your team
Once written, your goals can be reduced to a series of action steps and activities that are spread throughout the remainder of the year. This activity plan should drive your actions as well as the actions of your employees. Activity is measurable and can be quantified and tracked. As you evaluate the activity that has taken place, you can easily identify if it has enabled progress towards your goals and make any needed adjustments along the way. Evaluation of results should happen on a consistent basis, no less than once a month for most goals and more frequently for others, such as sales or revenue. Since everyone in your company is a part of achieving success, they should each understand the part they need to play in achieving company goals. As a leader you should have a plan for communicating how the company is progressing towards its goals and to share progress as well as set backs with your team.
2010 is steadily marching on - the days, weeks and hours lost in the first two months of 2010 can never be recovered. Your business activity needs to keep pace with your goals. To ensure your business is making the progress you desire, you need to focus on and measure the activity that is taking place!
Focus on activity,
Measure results,
Modify activity,
Share the results,
...repeat to reach your goals.
Great Success!
E-Myth Benchmark
Posted by emyth benchmark at 9:22 AM in Management | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: acitvity plan, action steps, best practices, business goal setting, business goals, goal setting, goals, management
Monday, February 01, 2010
Leadership By Design
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.”
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Setting an employee up for success is good leadership. Hammering on an employee who is not successful – that’s assault. In our work with hundreds of businesses each year one of the top complaints we hear from business owners is; you just can’t hire good people. As we inquire deeper about this statement we hear the gory details of seemingly uncaring employees who just can’t seem to get the job done – they don’t follow through, don’t listen, don’t care, don’t show up and don’t last long. We invariably find the very same business leaders who are convinced you just can’t hire good people, have not designed their business to ensure their employees are successful. More often than not, these very same leaders point the finger of blame at the employee, without recognizing that their business is not designed to ensure employee success.
It’s all so predictable. And curable. What’s missing most often in these businesses is clarity. Clarity of results. Clarity of action. Clarity of accountability.
Clarity of Results: Be clear with your employees on the results of their tasks and connect them to the importance of the work they do. Most businesses hire people to do tasks, such as; answer the phone, wait on customers, fill orders, do the books or take care of inventory. Quite often the employee is never told what the result of the task should be, they are just told to perform the task. For example, one can hire an employee to answer the phone, however that is not the result the business really needs the employee to achieve. The true result that a business needs is for an employee to make certain every call is handled with courteous, sincere, professional care in order to retain customers and support the flow of information through the company. Or perhaps in another company the result of answering the phone is to make certain every callers needs are met through a friendly and caring experience with our company. Answering the phone is a task. The attitude and spirit by which the phone is answered is dictated by the result the company is looking to achieve. Once you have established what tasks an employee needs to be doing, focus on “why” the task needs done and then you will be able to clearly describe the results the employee needs to achieve. This clarity of results will support your employees to adopt the necessary attitude and spirit that support achieving the result.
Clarity of Action: Design clear tools and processes that direct the actions employees should take to be successful. Now that the employee answering the phone clearly understands the results they need to achieve, the next step is to ensure they have clarity regarding the actions they must take to achieve the result. Clearly documented process, job aids, checklists and trainings are examples of business systems that set your employees up for taking successful action. An easily accessible laminated guide that provides information on extension numbers, transferring of calls, directing calls to voice mail and conferencing calls is a good example of a job aid for any employee that answers the phone. Training employees that handle calls on product knowledge, company specific information and providing a list of the most commonly asked questions and the answers to those questions, will provide an employee with confidence and give them a clear understanding of the actions they must take to achieve the results of their position.
Clarity of Accountability: Design a clear structure of accountability for your employee to depend on and work within. Now that the employee answering the phone is clear about the result of their tasks and has the tools and training to take the actions needed to achieve those results, they need to be clear about their accountabilities. Employees should know what they are accountable for, when it should be done and who will be holding them accountable for doing it. Every business should have an organization chart showing a graphic representation of the lines of communication and accountability within the company. The line of accountability shown on the organization chart should also be an employee’s line of dependability. Employees should be able to depend on their managers for direction, information and support. Managers should ensure employees are clear about their accountabilities and have the tools and training to achieve success.
Leadership by design is leading through clarity of results, action and accountability. You can hire good people and you can lead them to great results through designing your company for success. Set yourself and your employees up for success by designing your business with clarity!
Posted by emyth benchmark at 2:20 PM in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: accountability, business coaching, hiring, leadership, training
Friday, January 22, 2010
Consistent and Persistent in 2010
In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.- Tony Robbins
As you engage in the annual ritual of reviewing the year that has passed and designing the year ahead, we at E-Myth Benchmark and the Benchmark Coaching Center encourage you to weave two words into your business strategies; consistent and persistent. Marketing experts understand and advocate that companies be both consistent in their marketing message and persistent in their advertising activities. They know by experience that inconsistent messages and scattered advertising initiatives will not yield the returns that consistent messaging and persistent advertising provide.
Marketing is only one area of your business that will benefit by applying the consistent and persistent philosophy. Leadership disciplines, financial monitoring, lead generation activities, customer service initiatives and management practices also need consistent and persistent attention to ensure key activities are steadily taking place. Common business activities that suffer from lack of consistent and persistent activity are:
- making phone calls to customers or prospects
- asking for testimonials and referrals
- doing the detail work that adds value to your customers experience
- communicating with your customers
- advertising
- updating websites and social networking sites
- carving out time to focus on strategic business development
- designs for new products and/or services
- one-on-one meetings with employees
To avoid looking back at 2010 and using the words; "if only I would have", take the time now to identify initiatives in your business that need consistent and persistent activity. Follow these three easy steps for identifying what your business needs to focus on consistently and persistently.
Step One:
Answer (on paper) the following questions about the past 12 months:
- What did I say I was going to do, but never got around to doing? (you may want to exchange the word "I" for the words "my business")
- What did I start doing, but never finished?
- What did I learn about but didn't put into action?
- What did I see or admire that I want to incorporate into the coming year?
- What worked last year that should become a consistent and persistent activity?
Step Two:
After reviewing the step one results, complete the following sentences:
- Looking back at the past 12 months my business would have benefited if I only my team had...
- Looking at the opportunities over the next 12 months my business will benefit if I or my team take the following actions...
Step Three:
Using the results of step one and two:
- Make a list of the priority business activities and actions you and your business must be consistent and persistent in over the next twelve months.
- Break the listing down into action items and give each action item a deadline date for completion.
- Looking at the completion deadline dates identify a start date for each action item, the date you will begin to take action in order to meet the completion deadline.
Once you have completed your listing, using the timelines you have established for the action items, block time out of your calendar, and that of your team, to ensure your business is consistently getting what it needs as a result of you and your team being persistent in honoring your calendared time!
Posted by emyth benchmark at 2:36 PM in Leadership | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: Business coaching, business consulting, business goals, business planning, consistent, E-Myth, E-Myth Coaching, goal setting, marketing
« Previous
